NUTRITION

ARTICLES

These exercises are meant to be done before any Qigong practice. It stimulates the flow of Qi and Blood in the acupuncture meridians so that you can feel the energy as you practice your Qigong exercise. Just these warmup exercises alone are an incredible stress relief technique which reduces Liver Qi stagnation, tight muscles, improves digestion and relaxes the nervous system. Try to practice these every morning to keep you stress free and healthy throughout your day.

Spinning Drum Exercise

With your feet about shoulder width apart, twist your hips left and right, allowing your arms to swing effortlessly, driven by the force of your hips twisting from side to side. Your hands should be loose fists that land on the midline of the front and the back as you turn your hips left and right.

Begin with your fists landing on your lower abdomen and lower back/ sacrum area. Then as you twist a bit more vigorously your fists should ascend, tapping higher to your ribs, the front of your shoulders, all the way up to the very tops of the shoulders on the trapezius muscle.

You should also tap higher and higher up your back at the same time.

Then tap back down to your lower abdomen and back. Slow your twisting gradually to a stop.

Tapping the Groin to Relax the Inner Thigh

Bend your knees slightly, and then straighten them so that your hips and whole upper body move up and down as you repeatedly bend your knees and then straighten them.

Do this alternately for a while, anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes or more. Then bend forward at the waist and begin to tap down your inner thighs and legs to your medial malleolus or inner ankle bone.

Tapping the Back Side and Stimulating the Kidneys

Now tap up the sides and backs of your legs towards your buttocks and lower back. Your tapping should feel like a good massage. Not too hard. We don't want to hurt ourselves, yet not too light that it doesn't loosen up our muscles, ligaments and Qi meridians.

You can tap rather vigorously on your buttocks and sacrum area since this area tends to hold a lot of tension and stagnant Qi. As you tap up into your lumbar area of you lower back, tap with the circle made by your thumb and index finger of your loose fist. Tap gently on this low back area to stimulate the Kidneys and Adrenal Glands for about 20 seconds to a whole minute.

Now rub your lower back and hips with your palms in a circular motion up along the spine then to the sides of your back and back down. Repeat rubbing these circles several times and then just rest your hands on your lower back, sending Qi energy from your palms into your Kidneys and Adrenals. This helps to overcome Chronic Fatigue and Chronic lower back pain.

Tapping the Armpit, Ribs, Arms and Shoulders

Start by tapping your right hand as a loose fist, gently yet firmly directly into your left armpit. This tends to be very tender so start gently and build the force as you adjust to the sensations. This stimulates the heart and lymph glands and ducts, promoting flow of blood, lymph and nerve conduction to all of your internal organs.

Also tap all around the armpit area, in front of it, below it and behind it. Then after at least one minute of tapping in and around the armpit, tap straight down from the armpit, across the rib cage and down to the side of your abdomen right in front of the hip bone to the midline in your lower abdomen.

Tap gently directly up the midline from your lower abdomen up through the center of your chest, tapping on the sternum, across your left clavicle to your left shoulder. Tap down the lateral or outside aspect of your left arm to your hand. Rotate your left arm so that you are now tapping on the palm of your left hand. Tap up the medial or inner aspect of your left arm back to the very top of your left shoulder. Tap on this tight and sensitive point on the very top of your left shoulder for aboout 15 to 20 seconds.

Now repeat everything on your right side, using your left fist. Be very careful as you tap across your ribs on the right since this is directly over the Liver.

Arm Swings

Start with your arms raised about eye level in front of your face. Now swing your arms back and forth, front and back, loosening the armpit and shoulder joint.

As your arms swing back, let your heels lift off the ground naturally with the momentum built up by your arms swinging. Lower heels as your arms swing front. Do this repeatedly for about 20 seconds to 1 minute.

Now when your arms swing back, actually lift off the ground, jumping with the momentum you've built up. Land as your arms swing front. Jump like this for about eight times. Then slow your arms swinging to a halt.

Cloud Hands

This exercise mixes and blends the energies of your left and right sides of your body as well as gathers energy or Qi from your environment.

With feet shoulder width and knees bent slightly, first draw a circle with your left hand going up your midline and then out to the left side of your body.

As your left hand circles down to the side, your right hand starts to draw a circle up the midline. So while the left hand is moving down and to the side, the right hand is moving up and in the middle, exactly the opposite.

Then as the right hand moves out to the side and down, the left hand returns to the middle and starts move up the midline again, as the right hands is moving down on the right side. Keep repeating these opposing circles with each hand and arm for about 1 to 5 minutes to complete this movement.

Make sure your shoulders and elbows are relaxed. As your left hand moves to the left, allow your whole body to lean towards the left, putting more weight on your left foot. Then as your right hand moves to the right, allow your whole body to lean towards the right, putting more weight on your right foot. These movements should be done slowly and without effort.

INHALE as one hand moves up and out, then EXHALE as the other hand moves up and out, so that your breath cycle is coordinated with the movement of your hands.